Games

Minecraft: Story Mode

Minecraft doesn't lend itself towards storytelling. That's kind of the point - it's basically a digital sandbox. But if anyone can tell a good story with Minecraft's building blocks, it's TellTale. The first episode of the developer's highly-anticipated Story Mode adventure series is now on the Play Store, complete with a themed game world and some top-notch voice acting. Each episode costs $5, or you can unlock the entire season for an additional $15 and get one free.

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In this five part episodic series, play as either a male or female hero named 'Jesse,' and embark on a perilous adventure across the Overworld, through the Nether, to the End, and beyond. You and your friends revere the legendary Order of the Stone: Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Griefer, and Architect; slayers of the Ender Dragon. While at EnderCon in hopes of meeting Gabriel the Warrior, you and your friends discover that something is wrong… something dreadful.

Prune

Prune is about pruning trees (not about prunes). In this stylized "zen" game it's your job to chop off specific parts of a tree as it grows to let it bloom in the light and avoid obstacles. It's also beautiful, the sumi-egraphics flowing across the screen in an almost soothing fashion. It's kind of like having a tiny little bonsai tree on your phone... without the time commitment. Prune is $4 with no ads or in-app purchases.

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Prune is a love letter to trees. A game about the beauty and joy of cultivation. With a swipe of a finger, grow and shape your tree into the sunlight while avoiding the dangers of a hostile world. Bring life to a forgotten landscape, and uncover a story hidden deep beneath the soil.

• A unique digital plant for your pocket
• Beautiful, minimalist art and a super clean interface—it's just you and the trees
• Meditative music and sound design for you to zen out to
• No IAP, no monetization strategy, no currencies
• Share screenshots of your unique tree creations with friends
• Sync progress across all your devices

Cloud Chasers

Cloud Chasers is a story-driven, top-down action game about the journey of a father and daughter. The gameplay isn't going to make your heart pound, but that's okay - it's the atmosphere you're interested in here. The survival mechanic uses a random generation system, so you'll have to manage your resources carefully as you cross the fantasy desert. The same system generates story-based encounters as you go along.

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Guide a small family through five deadly deserts to reach the gateway to the world above the clouds. It's a dangerous journey filled with a multitude of unique narrative encounters. Make your decisions wisely, manage your resources, use equipment to your advantage and fill up your precious water reserves by flying through the clouds with your trusty glider. Explore a randomly generated steampunk world that will not only tell you the story of a wondrous desert planet and its inhabitants, but also show the topic of migration from a completely new perspective.

Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom

The first Sonic Boom games on consoles and portables was a definite bust, but SEGA seems confident enough in the IP that they've attacked it to the Sonic Dash endless runner. This pseudo-sequel adds new abilities and some impressive graphics, plus the ability to switch characters at special parts of the stage (they kind of work like off-ramps). The usual freemium caveats apply, and you'll need some powerful hardware to run the game at full speed.

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The dazzling sequel to SEGA’s hit endless runner, SONIC DASH. Featuring the cast and world of the new TV series, SONIC BOOM. New and amazing 3D worlds, challenges and game play. Play as Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Sonic’s new friend, Sticks. Let’s do this.

RACE with up to three characters in new Team Play mode. Swap runners mid-race to earn high scores

American Dad! Pinball

American Dad is another show that's made by that guy who's been stirring the pot for Family Guy for the last decade. The difference is that it's actually entertaining. That probably doesn't affect the play of the Zen Pinball table in the slightest, but it does mean the shout-outs and character animations are a bit more relevant and funny. Like the rest of Zen's tables you can buy it in a stand-alone app or as an IAP in the main Zen Pinball game.

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Step into the weird world of the Smith Family and embark on crazy adventures with your favorite characters from the hit TV show American Dad. Help Stan keep his country safe and his family sane, by any means necessary. In American Dad Pinball, you’ll explore the Smith family residence and Roger's Place in a frantic mini-playfield, bullseye shots with Stan at the Fun N' Gun Shooting range in a first-person mini-game, assume Roger's various Personas in different game modes, and manipulate the National Threat Level, changing the way missions will play out.

Archer Pinball

Archer is probably the best licensed show in the latest round of Zen Pinball tables, if only because it requires a level of audience attention that Fox simply won't allow on broadcast TV. The music alone would make it worth a buy for serious fans of the cable cartoon, but the incredibly faithful 3D versions of the main characters are impressive. They make me wish for a TellTale series starring the show's dysfunctional cast of spies and office workers. The tablet is also available in the main Zen Pinball app.

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Throw yourself into the spy life with the world's greatest secret agent and his coworkers at the Agency. Fight on top of a moving train, take part in a shootout at the local spa, and evade the yakuza in a frantic car chase. Ride into a zone of... Wait a minute, I swear I had something for this... The Archer Pinball app features frantic and hilarious action, including authentic voiceovers and sound effects from the TV show, multiple mini-playfields with a unique progression system, unique achievements, and hotseat multiplayer so you can compete with your friends.

Bob's Burgers Pinball

Bob's Burgers is the latest cartoon to appear on Fox's Sunday night animation. It's a little different in tone and content to the usual Simpsons-style stuff, and that's probably why it's gained a large following so quickly. That, and the fact that it stars H. Jon Benjamin (the same guy who does the voice for Archer). The Bob's Burgers table is available as a stand-alone game or as a separate purchase in Zen Pinball.

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Order up. Bob's Burgers is open and ready for business. Team up with Bob, Linda, Gene, Louise, and Tina as they work to make their restaurant the best burger joint in town, and join in on the fun when Bob's Burgers closes for the night. Meet the Belcher family for the first time ever in 3D on the Bob’s Burgers Pinball table, featuring an innovative day and night cycle with over 15 game modes based on episodes from the show.

Family Guy Pinball

This is a pinball game. It's themed after Family Guy, the favorite "grown-up" cartoon (at least in the sense that children aren't supposed to watch it) of frat boys and stoners all over the country. You can buy it, but you really shouldn't, at least when the other three options above are also available for purchase.

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Experience Quahog like never before in Family Guy Pinball. Help Chris catch the Evil Monkey that’s been living in his closet, team up with Peter as he goes head-to-head with the Giant Chicken, work with Stewie to save Rupert from a fiery death, and more. Get ready for a “Freakin’ Sweet” pinball table. In Family Guy Pinball, get ready to relive iconic gags and moments from Family Guy episodes, activate unique character-themed modes for the entire Griffin family, as well as play fun side quests featuring the Quahog 5 News team, Bertram, Consuela, and more.

NBA 2K16

Another year, another entry in 2K's basketball franchise. This one doesn't change too much on top of the usual graphics and roster updates, though you can play with Euroleague teams in the standard and career modes. The game's soundtrack is curated by DJ Mustard (among others), who appears to be a real person who chose that name for himself. The game is a heavy $8 plus in-app purchases, and at the moment device compatibility is quite spotty.

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The NBA 2K franchise is back with the most-true to life NBA experience to date with NBA 2K16. NBA 2K16 is packed with enhancements, new features, updated rosters, and more opportunities to earn Virtual Currency. NBA 2K16 also includes the popular MyCAREER mode as well as a new soundtrack curated by pop super-producer DJ Mustard, renowned producer and rapper DJ Khaled, and legendary hip-hop producer DJ Premier.

Ghosts of Memories

Ghosts of Memories isn't shy about it's story-focused puzzle game inspiration - there's a lot of Monument Valley DNA in there. (That's not a bad thing, mind you.) This one focuses on an ethereal science fiction world with some absolutely fantastic 2D graphics and voice acting thrown in for the heck of it. The game essentially uses adventure-puzzle structure to advance, but the real hook is the story. It's $3 with no in-app purchases.

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Ghosts of Memories is an adventure puzzle game located in 4 stunningly beautiful worlds. In Ghosts of Memories you will explore the lands of ancient civilizations, full of undiscovered paths and mysterious puzzles based on tricky tiles. Think logically to solve all the quests and puzzles on your journey.

Beautiful graphics - 2.5-D isometric perspective that combines the details of 2-D artwork with many functionalities of a 3-D environment.

Unique sound effects - the background music was composed specifically for Ghosts of Memories, and creates an atmosphere as you find your way to your destination by overcoming a series of puzzles. Use headphones to get the best experience.

Gameplay experience - Carefully designed gameplay will provide you with engaging and demanding experiences, full of unexpected solutions.

Viva Sancho Villa

Pancho Villa was a Mexican revolutionary who also fought against the US government. Sancho Villa is... well, he's basically a Dia De Los Muertos cartoon version of the same guy who inexplicably must beat the crap out of a bunch of monsters in a fanciful runner game. The mechanics of Viva Sancho Villa are an interesting mix of simple runners and more complex brawlers like Guacamelee, but the unique character designs and fantastic animation are the real draws.

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Viva Sancho Villa is a Mexican hack & slash action adventure platformer, where you play as the revolutionary hero Sancho Villa. Using your bonecrushing machete and legendary revolvers, liberate Magico’s land from the corrupted forces of evil in this revolutionary saga of war and folklore. Get immersed in a surreal world of music, traditions, mythology, arts and crafts while you travel through colorful towns, dangerous fields, uprising villages, haunted forests and much more. V

Magic Flute: Puzzle Adventure

At its core Magic Flute is a sliding block puzzle overlaid with a bit of platforming. But it's the atmosphere that you're going to want to bite into - the story is a sort of pastel-soaked version of a Mozart opera. With just 32 levels interconnected with cutscenes it's not particularly deep, but the unique graphics and open-ended structure should see you through.

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Enter the Kingdom of the Queen of the Night. Start your journey through the lands of mystery and magic as prince Tamino. Choose your steps wisely, build your path avoiding traps, deadly serpents or earth quakes. But know no fear, lose no hope and remember that you are the master of your own path. Solve 32 spatial puzzles placed in a beautiful scenery of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’ opera. Armed only in logic, imagination and integrity help Tamino find wisdom, beauty and save the love of his life.

The Balloons

The Balloons is an endless runner with a vertical twist: you control a balloon (or a rock on a string, or a slice of pizza, or any number of other non-floaty things) as it floats vertically. Your only job is to avoid the various pointy objects in your way. The premise is simple, but those who appreciate a runner that's mostly focused on cosmetic unlocks will have some fun. The art is pixelated and the music is of the "chiptune" variety.

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The Balloons are coming in the world’s first endless floater. Join our heroes Blue, Unicorn, Ghost, Frog and even Dead Bird and avoid obstacles like deadly spikes, dastardly dart shooters, and even flying ninja stars. Collect as many coins as possible on your way to some seriously mind-blowing high scores. Aim for the stars or pop trying.

Herald of Oblivion

Tin Man is back with another one of their signature game-books, this time set in the the popular Warhammer 40,000 universe. I know absolutely nothing about 40K aside from the chainsaw-swords, but players of the tabletop games should appreciate the unique mix of text-based storytelling and RPG combat. The developers have really done some great things with the license - check out the Warhammer-themed interface that's been applied to the usual pen-and-paper UI.

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You are a veteran Space Marine of the Imperial Fists Chapter. Equipped with powerful Terminator armour and armed with the deadliest weapons that the Adeptus Astartes wield, you are a symbol of the Emperor's might. Trapped aboard the space hulk Herald of Oblivion and the only survivor of your squad, you must fight your way through the aliens and heretics that infest the star vessel and find a way to escape the horror and return to your Chapter.

DARIUSBURST -SP-

Dariusburst is a PlayStation Portable adaptation of a little-known side-scrolling shooter series that goes all the way back to the 1980s. The Android version features all of the bullet hell action you expect from this kind of game, adapted for touchscreens and with some extra enemies thrown in for good measure. The Android version includes high-end graphics (so make sure your hardware can handle it), but unfortunately there's no mention of external controller support. The game is almost $7 with no in-app purchases.

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The DARIUS(SAGAIA) series made shooting game history with its unique atmosphere and sound design, and now the latest installment, DARIUSBURST, is available for Android. Featuring fully optimized controls and added content. Based on the critically acclaimed handheld console game DARIUSBURST, this smartphone edition boasts intuitive, responsive controls optimized especially for touchscreens. This edition also includes a variety of smartphone/Android-exclusive bonuses.